Couple Arrested in High-Profile Burglary After Reported Disappearance

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A Los Angeles couple were arrested in connection with a high-profile burglary Monday, just days after the man’s fiancee reported him missing saying she found his dog with a bloodied leash.

Kelly McLaren, left, spoke with KTLA about her fiancee, Darwin Vela, who was reported missing after last being seen Nov. 19, 2013. Vela, seen in a photo provided by McLaren, was discovered by police several days later, and the pair were taken into custody Monday, Nov. 25, 2013.

Kelly McLaren reported her fiance Darwin Vela missing last week, saying the 22-year-old vanished while walking his dog. The two were scheduled to testify against Ricardo Orozco, a man suspected of burglarizing the home of actor Nicholas Cage’s ex-girlfriend.

On Monday, they were both arrested by detectives with the LAPD Wilshire Division on suspicion of burglary in connection with that case, according to police.

They were each being held on $20,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate locator website.

While Vela was missing, McLaren told KTLA she believed his disappearance was linked to their upcoming testimony in the burglary case.

“We were witnesses to … a crime,” McLaren said.

When Vela was located on Friday he told investigators he had been kidnapped by three men wearing black clothing and black gloves and taken to a warehouse where he was beaten, an LAPD source confirmed to KTLA.

During a Thursday preliminary hearing in Orozco’s case, a detective said that one of the items stolen was computer with a video of actor Charlie Sheen, TMZ reported. The video is a “sex tape,” the website stated, citing “law enforcement sources.”

On Friday, McLaren would not comment on the specifics of TMZ’s reporting.

“I am staying away from TMZ because I do not the emotional strength or capacity right now to even try and understand what that is about,” McLaren said Friday. “They did quote him as a suspect, which is not true … We were subpoenaed as witnesses, I can say that, but … that is the extent of our involvement.”

Anyone with information was asked to call detectives at 213-996-1800 or 877-527-3247.